JP2003182168A - Inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent printing irregularities and improve the image quality by uniformly heating an imaging range of an imaging medium by heat of a platen. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging medium is transferred in an X axis direction on the platen (2) with a heater (86). Meanwhile, an inkjet recording head (36) is sent in a Y axis direction, and ink is discharged from the recording head (36) to image to the imaging medium. The platen (2) is divided to a plurality of partial parts (2a), (2b) and (2c) and these partial parts (2a), (2b) and (2c) are arranged in parallel with a slight gap present between. Adjacent borders (L1) and (L2) of the plurality of partial parts (2a), (2b) and (2c) of the platen (2) are formed slantwise with respect to the transfer direction of the imaging medium, thereby preventing a low temperature part from being formed continuously in the transfer direction. A plurality of screwing parts of the partial parts (2a), (2b) and (2c) of the platen (2) to a frame are arranged not to overlap each other on an axis parallel to the transfer direction of the imaging medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an inkjet recording apparatus having a platen with a heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-296607 discloses a recording apparatus in which an image forming medium such as paper is heated by a heater provided on a platen while an image is formed by an ink jet recording head to improve image quality. Is disclosed.

[0003]

When the platen is heated by the heater, the platen is naturally made of metal. Metal has a property of expanding when heated, and in a large recording device, the elongation of the platen adversely affects the accuracy of the drawing and the device. Further, there is a problem that the large single platen platen becomes expensive. In order to solve this problem, a configuration is adopted in which the platen is divided into a plurality of parts, and the parts are arranged in the lateral direction and screwed to the machine body side to form a divided surface. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the platen (2 ′) is provided with a joint portion of each component (2 ″) for absorbing an extension of about 1 mm due to heating of each component (2 ″). A gap (G) is formed. Normally, the adjacent boundary lines (L1 ′) (L2 ′) formed by the joint portions of the platen (2 ′) are parallel to the sheet conveyance direction (A). Since the gap (G) is formed at the joint portion of each component (2 ″) of the platen (2 ′), the heat of the heater is not transmitted and the component does not warm up. Since it is formed in a line along A), the image quality is adversely affected. In addition, the screwed portion (9 ') of each platen component (2 ") is formed.
The heat of the heater is hard to be transmitted and it is hard to warm up. Therefore, the plurality of screw-fastening parts (9 ') of the platen are set in the paper transport direction (A).
If it overlaps with a line (L) parallel to, a plurality of low temperature parts will be formed on this line, which also adversely affects the image quality. The present invention aims to solve the above problems.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a platen (2) having a heater (86).
Inkjet recording in which an image-forming medium is conveyed in the X-axis direction while an inkjet-type recording head (36) is sent in the Y-axis direction, and ink is ejected from the recording head (36) to form an image on the image-forming medium. In the apparatus, the platen (2) is provided with a plurality of parts (2a) (2b) (2c).
And each of these component parts (2a) (2b) (2c) are arranged in parallel with a slight gap between them, and a plurality of component parts (2a) (2b) (2c) of the platen (2) are arranged. The adjoining boundary lines (L1) and (L2) of (1) are inclined with respect to the drawing medium conveyance direction. Further, the present invention relates to each of the parts (2a) (2b) (2c) of the platen (2),
A plurality of screwed portions are arranged so as not to overlap with each other on an axis line parallel to the conveying direction of the drawing medium.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The structure of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, (2) is a platen composed of a metal plate, which is fixedly mounted on a machine body (5) supported by a leg body (3) of an ink jet recording apparatus. The platen (2) is divided into a plurality of parts. A plurality of component parts (2a) (2b) (2c) constituting the platen (2) are arranged in parallel so as to be developed in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction (A) and cover the printing range. . Each component (2a) (2
b) (2c) are adjacent to each other with a slight gap (G) between them, and the adjacent boundary line (L1) (L1) () formed by the gap (G) of each of the component parts (2a) (2b) (2c). L2)
Are formed to be inclined with respect to a line parallel to the sheet conveyance direction (A).

Thus, it is possible to avoid the formation of a low temperature portion which is continuous in a line along the sheet conveying direction on the platen (2). As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of component parts (2a), (2b), and (2c) forming the platen (2) are attached to the mounting plate (7) fixed to the machine body (5) with screws (9), respectively. The four corners are fixed by. Each component (2a) (2) located on the sheet conveying path of the platen (2)
b) The mounting portions of the screws (9) before and after (2c) are arranged at positions perpendicular to each other so as not to overlap on a line parallel to the sheet conveying direction. A heater (90) for heating a printing medium such as paper and a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the platen are attached to the back side of each component (2a) (2b) (2c) of the platen. Has been.

On the rear side of the lower part of the leg body (3), as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, both end shaft parts (4a) of the roll paper supply scroller (4) to which the roll part of the roll paper (102) is mounted
Are mounted on a pair of bearing members (6) and (8) rotatably arranged on the left and right sides of the leg. Further, on the front side of the lower part of the leg body (3), a pair of bearing members (12) (wherein both end shaft portions (10a) of the roll paper winding scroller (10) are rotatably arranged on the left and right sides of the leg body (12) ( 1
It is supported by 4). The pair of bearing members (1
2) and 14) are rotatably supported by legs, and one bearing member (12) is a roll paper winding motor (1).
6) is connected to the output shaft, and the other bearing member (14) is
An input shaft of an encoder (18) for detecting the rotational movement of the bearing member (14) is connected.

A paper guide (20) is arranged behind the platen (2), and a guide roller (22) extending in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, that is, the Y-axis direction in FIG. 2 is arranged behind the paper guide (20). ) Is arranged and the guide roller (22)
Is rotatably supported by the airframe. Reference numeral (24) is a Y-axis rail, which is horizontally arranged above the platen (2) and has both ends fixed to the machine body via brackets. A Y cursor (26) is attached to the Y-axis rail (24).
A (carriage) is movably attached, and the Y cursor (26) is linked to a Y-axis drive device provided on the machine body through an endless steel belt connected to a Y-axis drive motor.

The platen (2) and the paper guide (20)
A slit is formed along the Y-axis direction between and, and the drive roller (30) is arranged in the slit. Both ends of the drive roller (30) are linked via brackets to an X-axis drive device arranged on the machine body. On the Y-axis rail (24), a pinch roller shaft has an elastic mechanism (not shown).
The pinch roller (34) mounted so as to be able to move up and down via the pinch roller shaft and rotatably fitted to the pinch roller shaft is in a state of being separated from the surface of the drive roller (30) and in horizontal elastic contact with the surface. It is configured so that it can be set to either one of the states.

A head base is fixedly provided on one side of the Y cursor (26), and an ink jet recording head (36) having a large number of four nozzles prepared for each ink color is attached to the head base. Has been. Incidentally, FIG.
In the figure, only one recording head is shown and the other recording heads are omitted. A sub-tank (38) for solvent ink of four colors (black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y), which is the same number as the recording head (26), is attached above the Y cursor (26). In FIG. 2, only one sub tank is shown and the other sub tanks are not shown.

On the substrate of the Y cursor (26) supporting the recording head (36), as shown in FIG. 2, for each sub tank (38), a manual valve (for switching between ink supply and cleaning water supply) is supplied. 40) is attached. Each sub-tank (38) is connected to the corresponding recording head (36) by a tube, and each sub-tank (3)
The ink discharge port (44) of 8) is set above the ink receiving port of the corresponding recording head (36), and due to this height difference, ink is ejected from the corresponding sub tank (38) to the recording head (36). It is configured to be supplied by gravity fall.

Reference numeral (46) denotes four ink main tanks containing four color solvent inks, which are removably arranged in a tank storage case provided on the leg side. still,
In FIG. 2, only one ink main tank is shown, and the other ink main tanks are omitted. Each ink main tank (46) includes a diaphragm pump (48), a filter (not shown), and a manual valve (4).
0) to the corresponding sub-tank (38) by a tube. The negative pressure air pump (not shown) installed in the machine is an air chamber, a two-way solenoid valve,
Tubes are connected to each sub-tank (38) via a manifold, a branch tube, and a three-way solenoid valve.

The take-up motor (16) and each pump are connected to a controller via a driver, and the XY drive, the recording head (36) and other various electronic devices and devices are connected to the controller. It is configured to be controlled by the controller. In the figure, (86) is a recording head heating heater, (84) is a sub tank heating heater, and (92) is each recording head (36).
Temperature sensor provided in the sub-tank (3)
It is a temperature sensor provided in 8). Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

To set the feeding portion of the roll paper (102) on the platen (2), the pinch roller (34) is raised and the roll paper of the roll paper set on the supply scroller (4) is rolled. Take out (102),
After passing through the platen (2), it is inserted between the drive roller (30) and the pinch roller (34), and then the pinch roller (34) is lowered to move the pinch roller (34) to the roll paper (102). The drive roller (30) is elastically contacted from above. As a result, the drive medium (30) and the pinch roller (34) grip the image forming medium, and the setting of the image forming medium is completed.

In the normal state of the apparatus, the inside of the sub tank (38) is kept at a negative pressure by a negative pressure air pump so that ink does not drip from the recording head (36), that is, does not leak. Further, if the negative pressure in the sub-tank (38) is too high, the ink is not supplied to the recording head (36), so the negative pressure is transferred from the sub-tank (38) to the recording head (36) through the ink supply passage. It is kept to the extent that ink is naturally supplied. Specifically, the state of negative pressure is properly managed by a pressure gauge, and control is performed so as to maintain a constant negative pressure.

When the printer shifts to the drawing operation, the feeding portion of the roll paper (102) is conveyed in the X-axis direction on the platen (2) by the intermittent rotation of the drive roller (30) in one direction. The recording head (36) is driven based on the image information under the control of the controller, ejects ink, and also the Y-axis rail (2) of the Y cursor (26).
By the reciprocating movement along 4), the roll paper (102) is scanned along the Y-axis with the feeding portion on the platen (2), and the image information developed in the memory of the controller is displayed on the roll paper (102) surface. To be visualized. During printing, the platen (2) is heated, a uniform heating surface is formed on the upper surface of the platen (2), and the entire printing surface of the paper (102) on the platen (2) is uniformly heated.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the low temperature portion of the screwed portion or the joint portion of the platen is not continuously formed in the conveying direction of the image forming medium, the image forming portion of the image forming medium is not formed. It can be heated evenly, and high-quality printing can be performed without uneven printing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a platen used in an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a platen.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a recording device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a platen showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols] 2 Platen 3 legs 4 Roll paper supply scroller 5 aircraft 6 Bearing members 7 Mounting plate 8 Bearing members 9 screws 10 Roll paper winding scroller 12 Bearing member 14 Bearing member 16 winding motor 18 encoder 20 Paper guide 22 Guide roller 24 Y-axis rail 26 Y cursor 30 drive roller 34 pinch roller 36 recording head 38 Sub tank 40 Manual valve 44 Ink outlet 46 Ink main tank 48 diaphragm pump 84 heater 86 heater 92 Temperature sensor 94 Temperature sensor 102 roll paper

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printing medium is conveyed in the X-axis direction on a platen (2) equipped with a heater (86), while an ink jet type recording head (36) is moved in the Y-axis direction from the recording head (36). In an ink jet recording apparatus configured to eject ink to perform drawing on a drawing medium, the platen (2) is divided into a plurality of parts (2a) (2b) (2c), and each of these parts (2a) ( 2b) and (2c) are arranged in parallel with each other with a slight gap therebetween, and the adjacent boundary lines (L1) and (L2) of the plurality of component parts (2a), (2b) and (2c) of the platen (2) are drawn. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized in that it is oblique with respect to the medium transport direction. 2. Each component (2a) of the platen (2)
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of screw-fastened portions of (2b) and (2c) are arranged so as not to overlap with each other on an axis line parallel to the conveyance direction of the drawing medium.